Conference News: 3 Events Under the Trellis; Ai4 Acquired; Grace Hopper Celebrates

Trellis Impact: Last summer, we shared with our readers that media group GreezBiz was changing its name to Trellis. We’ve recently learned that the company is also making changes to its event lineup. In 2025, they will be combining three of their flagship conferences. From 28 – 30 October, VERGE, Bloom, and GreenFin will all be held at the San Jose Convention Center under the umbrella brand Trellis Impact 25.  According to the organizers, this will be a “premier event empowering professionals to accelerate innovative solutions to our planet’s biggest challenges.” Providing access to three leading conferences in one location, the gathering aims to be the “center of gravity for doers and leaders focused on action and results.” For more on why they have created Trellis Impact, you can read their statement here. 

Ai4 is CloserStill: CloserStill Media, a producer of several conferences in the tech, healthcare and finance space, recently agreed to acquire a majority stake in Ai4, which will return to Las Vegas on 11 – 13 August 2025. Ai4 is self-described as “North America’s largest artificial intelligence industry event.” The 2025 conference will take place in the MGM but then move to the Venetian Las Vegas in 2026 “to accommodate further rapid growth.” According to the recent announcement, this year’s edition is set to attract 8000+ delegates and will host over 600+ speakers across 50+ conference tracks.

Bloomberg New Economy Advisory Board: Bloomberg New Economy recently announced a new Advisory Board chaired by Gina Raimondo, the former US Commerce Secretary, and Mario Draghi, who served as prime minister of Italy and president of the European Central Bank. Founded in 2018, Bloomberg New Economy is a worldwide community of multinational CEOs, public officials, innovators and financiers. Its 2025 flagship New Economy Forum will return to Singapore 19-21 November. Bloomberg shared: “Both co-chairs have decades of experience bridging the public and private sectors. Raimondo, an entrepreneur, lawyer and venture capitalist, was also governor of Rhode Island. And Draghi, an economist by training, has been an investment banker and university professor in addition to his roles in government and at multilateral institutions.”

Submission Opportunity: AnitaB.org’s flagship conference Grace Hopper Celebration/GHC is moving to Chicago this fall, spanning 4-7 November and designed to empower and inspire the next generation of women in technology. Want to present a workshop, panel, or presentation at GHC 2025? Submit now through 26 May to be considered for speaking roles this fall. GHC’s huge program covers a wide topic range, but you will want to be sure your idea is focused within one of the four content pillars, including: 1) Technology (think AI/ML, software engineering, security), 2) Culture (for example, pay equity and tech for social good), 3) Career topics, and 4) Senior to C-Suite leadership topics.

Lunchtime Learning: Last month CNBC hosted its inaugural Converge Conference, which brought together visionary leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors to “unlock new opportunities at the intersection of technology, innovation, sustainability and leadership, in business, sports, and entertainment.” The event was held at the picturesque Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore. Hear interesting conversations with Joe Tsai, co-founder and chairman of Alibaba Group on investing in sports, the future of AI and the Chinese economy; Richard Teng CEO of Binance and Chao Deng CEO of HashKey on the future of crypto, Benedetto Vigna CEO of Ferrari on tariffs and more.

Coming Up Next Week: Semafor World Economy Summit Spring coincides with IMF meetings in DC when it runs 23-25 April, featuring policy and business leaders who will speak to global growth and resilience in an uncertain, shifting global economy. On 22 April, Financial Times Agentic AI briefing will be held at 22 Vanderbilt in New York, designed for financial services industry leaders responsible for transformation and AI adoption. Web Summit Rio (27-30 April) is the next edition in this international event series that assembles some of the biggest names in tech and business. When RSA Conference gets underway 28 April in San Francisco, the cybersecurity world meets “to foresee risks, counter threats, and embrace the challenges ahead.” And at EarthX Congress of Conferences (21-25 April; Dallas), attendees can expect a comprehensive environmental agenda that includes in-depth conversations with solutions-minded business, political, and environmental leaders.